和铁娘子一起巡演

A drizzly Sunday morning saw me arriving at East Midl和s Airport with some of the Air Charter Service account managers who had been involved in the project. 在这里我们遇到了尼基, 另一位ACS客户经理, who has been on board Ed Force One for practically every leg of the tour so far. After picking up our airside passes we made our way out to the aircraft itself, 这是多么凶猛的野兽啊. A full on jumbo, the yellow airstairs pressed up against its side looked tiny in comparison. 近距离, 从远处看，它同样令人印象深刻, the decals st和 out starkly against the fuselage 和 the tail itself is particularly impressive, 艾迪对着你咆哮. 一旦进入, 我见过装卸总管, 杰里米, who was helping coordinate the move of the excess cargo off the plane, 她一直在和铁娘子一起巡演, 和其他人, 在过去的20年里. Once we had ferreted out all the excess from the overhead lockers 和 galleys, we loaded it into transit van we’d bought up with us 和 checked into our hotel for a brief freshen up. It was at this point that I found out that there was a spare 铁娘子 hospitality pass for Download Festival, 和 that I would actually be able to go to the festival itself, chill out in the hospitality area 和 watch 铁娘子 perform.

我当然欣然接受了这个机会, 尽管, 在我离开之前看到了这个消息, I knew that Download was particularly muddy this year. But even that didn’t quite prepare me for the state of area around the main stages. 在几分钟内, my trainers were coated in mud 和 only the fact that they were high tops allowed me to get away with dry feet. For the first hour or so we mingled in the VIP hospitality area, enjoying a few drinks 和 checking out the Trooper sponsored Augusta MV, 在今年的马恩岛TT中使用. 我们还品尝了一些免费餐饮, 卖热狗, curry 和 macaroni cheese all in little takeaway boxes. Soon it was time to wade over to the main stage for the headliners, 铁娘子, 我们在哪里一起唱歌跳舞, as well as copying the now iconic ‘climb like a monkey’ move during Death or Glory, 他们最新专辑中的一首歌, 灵魂之书. 在享受完演出后的培根三明治和饮料之后, 我们向出口走去, 在哪里, 走了一段路之后, 我们叫了一辆出租车把我们送回旅馆. I for one, showered down my shoes before hitting the hay.

第二天是飞行的日子. 从东米德兰兹机场到奥斯陆, 这是飞行的倒数第二段, 而且只有大约一个半小时的短途飞行. 早餐后, we made our way to the main terminal 在哪里 we would check-in the guests, 我们也将接待贵宾. I then received my boarding card, 和 set off for flight CC666. 一旦上船, 我找到了我的座位, 金碧辉煌的Ed Force One头枕套, 和 settled down as the Ed Force One flight attendants bustled around me. Soon, Bruce’s dulcet tones came over the PA, welcoming, informing 和 cracking the odd joke. We went through the safety demonstration, pushed back 和 were off. Once in the air the atmosphere felt distinctly un-plane like. 通常的礼仪, was thrown asunder 和 people moved freely throughout the cabin, 聊天, 谈笑风生. Meals were h和ed out 和 drinks orders taken, but ad hoc ordering of tubs of Pringles or a cheeky G&这是当时的秩序. 和我周围的人聊了几句之后, 包括杀手团成员, it became obvious that these guys are just one big family. Throughout the plane you can spot little photo collages on the walls, 还有家乡亲人的照片, 或者他们去过的地方. 在许多方面，它看起来和感觉上都像一架标准的飞机, 但是这些古怪的触摸, along with the Ed Force One 和 铁娘子 decals adorning the walls make it seem more like a flying hotel than simply a plane.